Wipeout Fusion

Just got hold of Wipeout Fusion and I have to say Im somewhat disappointed!

It is OK graphically and holds a constant smooth framerate but just never seems to be that inspiring.  The biggest thing Im finding a let down is the track design.  Which whilst OK again (and does have some good track design) its just too high a percentage seems to be average.  Also the handling whilst accurate and intuiative is let down by walls which tend to cause you to stick to them when you hit them.   You can obtain some decent speeds on the tracks but nothing like you get on XG3.  I know that the tracks are allot more detailed and complicated on this but it does seem to lack the rush I got with XG3.   There is on the plus side here though allot more depth than XG3  

I think if you are a Wipeout die hard fan then you will like this but for me hoping to be impressed, after playing for 4 hours I just felt it to be a tad average.

Thats a shame, i was really looking forward to this. After playing the demo, i was pretty impressed. Didi anyone else play the Demo? What is the full game like compared with the demo? Fusion got 9/10 is OPS2M so I\'ll probably still get it

i know i finaly played it and yeah , racer was right.

what a disappointment



its like finding out that Maria Cariry cant Sing  

Booooo....... Hisssssssssssss [/b]



This is very dissapointing

I told you all and you just wouldnt believe me!!!

It is ok when you get past all the changes. The one major problem is that the tracks are TOO unrealistic and you are stuck to the track (no more flying).

I think some of you will still like it as I say, but to be honest I prefer XG3 which I got recently for £15..... If you really love the Wipeout series then you will like this but just wont view it as the revolutionery upgrade it should have been...

[GmanJoe]

I loved Wipeout XL (Wipeout 2) for its track design and the ability to skim and scrape the walls! And the sound was like someone scratching the blackboard with their long finger nails!

I\'ll get the game anyway....since after all, you shouldn\'t hit the walls in the first place!

Id say 50% of the track design is good

yeah, i was really looking forward about this, but the demo didnt seem that good, ill rent it first

I\'ve been holding out on purchasing Xtreme-G b/c I\'ve always enjoyed the WipeOut series.  But for those that have played...both...which would you say is better???

I have heard that at first it sucks, but once you get used to it, your opinion completely changes and you start to love it.  How long have you played it TheGeezer and Racer?

Originally posted by IronFist
I have heard that at first it sucks, but once you get used to it, your opinion completely changes and you start to love it.  How long have you played it TheGeezer and Racer?

I hope this is the truth

but I\'m dissapointed about the loss fo the floating feel

For those interested, here are some more impressions from the GA forums.  This first one is from AlphaSnake (He is a writer on PSXnation.com or some other Sony site.)

Let me cut the chit-chat and save you folks the opening "VH-1 behind the music" drama. We all know about WipeOut, and hell we know about WipeOut Fusion and its ever questionable status. Studio Liverpool has finally completed the game, and it was recently released in the PAL territories. I decided to import a copy for myself, and see what all the hub-bub was about. Upon beginning the game, I chose my craft and level. As soon as "go" flashed, I gunned it. I was doing fine, everything was smooth, that is until I began encountering the turns. I hadn\'t played a WipeOut game in so long, that I barely lasted 50 seconds in a race. In other words, I kept on blowing up. So, I decided to pop in a few codes, unlock the Time-Trial mode and practice my heart off (and no, I didn\'t save the cheat code). In less than 15 minutes I was hugging and caressing those turns like butter. In no time, I began placing 2nd and 1st in the races, and instantly WipeOut Fusion went from somewhat disappointing, to extremely exciting.

The AI, for one is really solid. While not every racer performs well, at least 6-8 will give you a hard time, as they are accurate with weapon use and aren\'t afraid to give you a little \'nudge\' here and there, if you know what I mean. The game was an overall blast to play. The weaponry was diverse and the speed was all there. The track designs were great. Filled with loops, dives, splits, edgy turns and the whole nine. You\'ll feel the sense of speed as you beam down a dive exceeding the speed of light. There are many aircrafts to choose from, all with their unique status and team ownership. Each craft features one of two selectable drivers, male representative or female representative of the team. The game is heavy on replay value as it features many courses to choose from, in addition to secret air crafts and modes. So for those anticipating a US release, there\'s quite a lot to look forward to.

Visually, WipeOut Fusion is a great looker. It really has come a long way since its initial debut, which was who knows when. The only flaws are a somewhat inconsistent framerate, that tends to drop to 30 when your aircraft takes a sharp turn, and a slight aliasing issue with the near backgrounds. Despite that, Fusion is a wonderful looking game, complete with a deep color-palette, and a lot of attention to detail. The air-crafts are well built, and are made up of a substantial amount of polygons. They animate smoothly, and don\'t show a single sign off being half-assed. Fusion has eye-candy, and of course being a sci-fi racer, it wouldn\'t be complete otherwise. Environmental detail such as clouds, mist, weather effects, and etc. are intricately detailed, and add to an already beaming package.

Seeing as how WipeOut Fusion still hasn\'t been announced state-side, US PS2 owners are stuck left with Extreme G3 for the time being (not that XG3 wasn\'t a great game). I expect Sony to announce a US release for WipeOut Fusion shortly, in the meantime enjoy screenshots, and stay posted for many more to come, as my progress continues. Over and out. Sorry, always wanted to say that.

And these impressions are from Kiriku.

Just like Wip3out, WipEout Fusion is more focused on weapons than WipEout XL was. You CAN turn off the weapons, but it feels like they\'ve put som effort into making a lot of different weapons (although some of them are just useless, like proton cannon and flame thrower). You also got one unique weapon for every team.

Another thing that\'s related to the weapons is the damage simulation function you can turn on and off in the options menus. It basically makes your (and your opponents) ships degrade in performance based on how much shield energy they got. If your ship is very damaged, it won\'t work nearly as well as when it\'s fully restored. It\'s a feature that\'s both good and bad, but as I said...it can be turned on and off anyway.

One small similarity between WO2097 and WO Fusion though. is that the turbo function from Wip3out (when you used shield energy for turbo) is gone and you have to pick up turbo as a "weapon" instead.

One thing that separates WO Fusion from all other WipEout games is something I guess you\'ve heard before. It HAS a different feel to it, and I think it\'s because of a few different things in the game. One is the framerate, since it\'s the first WO in 60 fps (well, most of the time at least). Another thing is how the actual ships feel...they feel more sturdy and heavy this time around, like they really are big metallic pieces of junk (not that they\'re hard to control, they just feel "heavy").

The controls somehow feels more sharp and distinct. Yet another thing is how you\'re more bound to the actual track...it\'s like there\'s a magnetic power pulling you towards the track, and keeping you at a very defined height over the track. It\'s more of a rollercoaster kind of feeling in WipEout Fusion. When you jump, for example, it\'s like you\'re sucked back to the track by some magnetic force when you\'re at a certain height over the track. It\'s more digital...less floaty. It still has the WipEout feeling IMO, but it\'s somewhat different.

The tracks are definitely the best ones yet in a WipEout game IMO. the third stage of Florian Height of course, but almost all the other tracks in their third variations are equally amazing (the track on the moon for example - down, down, DOWN...AAAAAHH!!!!). And the jungle stage (especially the 3rd variation) has a great atmosphere to it. It reminds me of the jungle stage in WipEout XL/2097 (can\'t remember the name of the track). You also got a lot more alternative ways to take on tracks (compared to previous WO\'s).

Oops...looks like this became another set of impressions...I wasn\'t really aiming at that.  I might as well continue.

The music is at least OK, and you can make a playlist to choose your favorite songs. I consider 5-6 songs to be GREAT, and there are a total of 19 songs (if I\'m not mistaken) in the game. The first WipEout still has a better soundtrack, but it\'s better than Wip3out\'s soundtrack at least...and about equal with WipEout 2097/XL (or perhaps a wee bit below in overall quality).

The graphics are not THAT great. Shimmering and jaggies, and the texturing on the surroundings buildings is kind of sparse. I don\'t know how much I can demand though, so I won\'t say anymore about that.  
It\'s not ugly by any means, but it\'s not amazing either. It\'s above standard, but the important thing is that it\'s fast...which it is. Piranha, fully upgraded or zone mode for 30-35 zones. That\'s fast enough for me.

The design in the game is worse than previous parts. Designer\'s Republic were better IMO. I think the interface and menus are OK, but not as unique and cool as DR\'s creations. The design of the ships is not that good. Some ships (van über) looks like something ripped right out of Star Wars or something. The ships change in looks when you upgrade them, but most of them doesn\'t have the cool looks from the previous games.

As I said, it\'s possible to upgrade your ships. You compete in leagues, and win money. With the money, you buy better shields, brakes, acceleration etc etc. A nice addition to the WO series IMO, and it makes it more worthwhile to race (at least in the beginning). You also got different pilots, two per team. They affect the ships potential performance, with the lead pilot being the best of course. Nice to see the pilot feature is back...gives the game more personality IMO.

A problem I have with the game is the bugs...it\'s like the game can\'t handle the higher speeds, since you sometimes pass through walls without reason. And when you\'re teleported back, you\'ll sometimes end up on a totally different part of the track. Obvious bugs...I don\'t understand how they could\'ve missed them...or maybe they just didn\'t want to fix them(?). It doesn\'t destroy the game, but it\'s annoying...and it shouldn\'t be.

Another thing that has changed in the game is what happens when you hit walls and barriers. When you run into a wall on the track, you can get too "stuck" in it...you can\'t move backwards, so it can be very time consuming to move away from a wall you went straight into. Otherwise, it feels like the game is more forgiving with your wall bumps...in WipEout, it was a bit of a pain since you stopped almost completely when you bumped into a wall...in WipEout 2097/XL, you could "slide" on the walls...and you can slide even more in WipEout Fusion. You really have to run straight into a wall to be stopped by it.

Every track has electric fences, which divides up the track (since every track has three variations, some parts on a track will be closed off when you race one of the variations). These fences can be a REAL pain, especially in higher speeds. if you even come CLOSE to it when going fast, you\'ll get stuck in it and your ship might spin around too...and end up pointing the wrong way...and it takes time to turn the ship.

The game seem to last for a long time. I\'ve completed about 60 % of the game (you got a nice progression screen, showing how many percent you\'ve completed in every separate game mode; Arcade, AG league, Time Trial etc), and I\'ve been playing for around 20-25 hours. Now it\'s starting to get kind of tough.  

About the game modes...you got challenge, just like in Wip3out for example. You have to complete different challenges, and you can earn different kinds of medals based on how good you are. The challenges range from catching up with an opponent, eliminate enemies (with a limited variation of weapons), survive for a number of laps or simply to race with predecided settings (sometimes with weapon panels turned off, for example). It\'s fun, challenging, and you\'ll earn a special weapon for a team when you complete the first five challenges for that particular team.

Then we got the Zone mode...you\'ll race on a predetermined track with a special ship, and you CAN\'T use your brakes, at least not to slow the ship down. You can only use them as aid when turning. You\'re all alone on the track, and your goal is to survive as long as possible. After 10 seconds, you\'ve completed a "zone", and you need to reach 30 zones to complete a track. The hard part is, the ship keeps going faster and faster. Very challenging, very fast, very WipEout.  

Other small parts of info:

- It\'s possible to repair the ship like in previous WipEout games, but the ship will now slow down to a certain speed when going through the repair area.

- You can\'t watch replays anymore. The feature has now been removed...although it wasn\'t that important anyway.

- The loading times are kind of long...not frustrating long though (and you got a semi-interesting loading screen to look at...whee!!). One track takes about 12-20 seconds to load, but at least you don\'t have to reload a track if you want to play it again. The loading times between tracks to menus are shorter...like 5-7 seconds. More or less no loading times in the actual menus.  

I think that just about covers it for now. And excuse my bad English...I\'m from Sweden ya know!  

After reading those impressions, I am pretty psyched for this game again.  It doesn\'t sound groundbreaking or anything like that, but it still sounds pretty fun.  And it can only get better from now until the US release.

I have this game for a week now and all i can say is that i find this one of my most played games I own for ps2

The graphics are great when you are racing, especially some of the use of color and track design look stylish. Whne viewing replays for some reason it looks different, with less lighting more jaggies and less sharp textures. The replays are taken out of the US version I believe so you dont have to worry about it

The music is amazing IMO, this is one of the few games where I dont turn off the music This is obvious, since im familiar with this kind of music and do reconize some of the tracks

Gameplay is top IMO, better than the previous games. There is more speed but most of all more action. The controls are difficult in the beginning but after 20 minutes or so practicing you will love em

Overall I think this is one of the best games out for ps2, dont let you be mislead by the reviews THEY ARE WRONG. Donth think buy this game now!

IMO after playing for a week

Graphics 8.9
Sound 9.5
Gameplay 8.8

overall 8.9 (not an average)

score might seem low, buts a GREAT game, one of the best of its tired genre